Chapter 23: A Crack in Certainty

“I saw that the post was taken down today, but…”

“…….”

“I was still worried that you might be feeling upset….”

His reaction was different from the people around Joowon.

Everyone else had simply consumed it as interesting gossip, snickering that another sighting of Shin Joowon had popped up and prying to find out who he had eaten with; not a single person had asked how he felt or offered words of worry.

Even Joowon himself had brushed it off as something of little significance.

If anyone should be worried, it was Jin Yooha.

Even if his name hadn’t been mentioned in the post, most people in the Business Department already knew that the person who ate with Shin Joowon was Jin Yooha.

People who loved to tear others down would add plausible details to create strange rumors, and things that never happened would be treated as established facts to torment Jin Yooha.

Joowon knew that better than anyone.

He had experienced such things countless times since he was very young, to the point where he was sick of it.

Yet, Jin Yooha seemed more worried about Shin Joowon than about himself.

“I felt like it happened because I insisted on buying lunch… and it kept weighing on my mind….”

Yooha trailed off and tentatively looked up.

Taking in Yooha, who was looking at him with pure eyes that showed not a single hint of a lie, Joowon found himself at a loss for words.

Only questions about Jin Yooha floated through his mind, leaving him unsure of how to react.

‘Crap, what kind of concept is this now?’

It felt as though a chess piece, whose movement should be restricted, was constantly ignoring his control and trying to move off the board, making him feel displeased again.

Since Jin Yooha wasn’t acting according to his expectations, Joowon himself no longer knew what to say or what kind of expression to wear.

The cracks usually found in faces and eyes masked in hypocrisy—the unnatural tremors—were nowhere to be seen in Jin Yooha.

That was what made Shin Joowon feel wavered.

“Are you really okay with it?”

“…Pardon?”

Forgetting for a moment that he had to wear his mask, Joowon’s expression hardened, and he threw out the question with weight in his voice.

“I wasn’t the only one mentioned in that post.”

“Ah…….”

“Doesn’t it bother you? There were even comments that looked down on you.”

Yooha widened his eyes for a moment at the unexpected words.

His pupils, which had been darting left and right, soon focused entirely on Joowon’s face.

“…I’m fine.”

Soon, Yooha’s large eyes crinkled softly, creating a faint smile.

The smile he had dismissed as an illusion last time was truly etched on Yooha’s face this time.

It was evident that he was shy and embarrassed, as if he himself found smiling awkward, but both his eyes and his lips were clearly smiling.

It was the kind of smile that violently shook Joowon’s firm conviction—built on years of repeated experience—that everyone who approached him had an ulterior motive.

“It was strange because it felt like everyone was staring at me… but nothing really happened. The post was taken down quickly… and no one said anything to me directly, so I was okay.”

“…….”

“But there was a comment saying you’d probably be upset… and I thought you might have gone through this much more than I have, Hyung. Thinking about that made me worry….”

Slowly but calmly, and in a soft, sweet voice that was pleasant to hear, the smile had vanished from Yooha’s face as he spoke.

Instead, in the eyes that were timidly observing him, a feeling of genuine worry—not hypocrisy—could be glimpsed.

‘Have I gone crazy? Or did my mind go soft just because I lived peacefully for a while during my year away from Korea?’

If not for that, there was no way he could have failed to grasp Jin Yooha’s inner thoughts, his true intentions for approaching him.

“Ha…….”

A hollow breath he couldn’t quite contain escaped him.

By now, it should be time for him to show his true colors, but Jin Yooha once again defied his expectations, making it difficult to predict his future actions.

The way his gaze had fixed on him so pointedly when money was mentioned.

The way he kept making excuses to meet under the guise of being sorry.

Even if spilling the drink and ruining the shoes was just an unlucky accident, everything else was identical to the behavior of the people who had approached him in the past.

As far as Joowon was concerned, he had no choice but to think Yooha was one of those people.

“Yooha.”

“…Yes?”

Deciding to cast aside all prejudice and look into Jin Yooha’s eyes just one more time, Joowon stared into the black pupils looking up at him.

The moment the thought occurred to him that Jin Yooha might be a little different from the people he loathed so much, those two eyes looked nothing but innocent.

Even when he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, those glossy, clean pupils were still there.

An unadorned gaze that seemed to want nothing from him.

Even Chairman Shin, who had favored him so much that everyone of the Taemun Group bloodline was consumed by intense jealousy, had never looked at him with such eyes.

‘Why? Why does Jin Yooha worry about me and care about me?’

‘For what purpose is he acting differently from other humans?’

Joowon suddenly became curious.

“Thanks for worrying about me.”

Even amidst his complicated thoughts, the thing that became clearest was the desire to get to know Jin Yooha more deeply.

Joowon gave a smile as if to reassure him and lightly patted Yooha’s shoulder.

A faint flush was already spreading across Yooha’s cheeks.

That further fueled Joowon’s curiosity.

He had to find out. Exactly what kind of human Jin Yooha was. Why he was different from others. And ultimately, what he wanted to do with him.

‘To do that, I’ll have to get closer than I am now.’

Hiding his impure inner thoughts, Shin Joowon smiled at Yooha.

A smile so bright that it made not only Yooha’s cheeks but his ears and neck turn completely crimson.

****

Thanks to Jungbin focusing well for two hours today without getting distracted, Yooha was able to leave Jungbin’s house feeling more accomplished than usual.

The reason his steps were particularly light was that he had received his tutoring pay.

Although it was based on unofficial grading, Jungbin’s mother had even added a bit more to the tutoring fee, saying that his recent mock exam scores had improved a lot compared to the last one from last year.

‘Should I save a bit more? And give Woo Tae a little more allowance….’

When Yooha, having calmly made his plans, arrived at the bus stop, his phone vibrated briefly.

Sitting on the bench, Yooha checked his phone immediately.

[Shin Joowon: Yooha, what are you doing? ^^]

Yooha’s eyes widened upon reading the message.

The person who made Yooha overreact at just the three letters of his name. It was Shin Joowon.

Even though he was only looking at the characters with his eyes, he felt like he could hear Shin Joowon’s voice whispering affectionately.

Yooha shook his head to brush off the idle delusion and gripped his phone tight with both hands.

He had to take a deep breath because he could clearly feel his heart pounding against his palms.

[Hello, Hyung.]

[I just finished tutoring and I’m about to go home now. I’m waiting for the bus.]

After replying in a hurry, thinking he shouldn’t keep Shin Joowon waiting, Yooha turned his head to check the electronic sign.

The notice that the bus he needed to take would arrive in 10 minutes flashed by.

Only then did a question sprout in Yooha’s mind.

‘Why did he contact me so suddenly?’

Perhaps because he felt they weren’t close enough to exchange messages like this normally, especially on a weekend, Shin Joowon’s sudden contact was simply baffling.

‘Did another post go up on the school community?’

Since he had talked about that with Shin Joowon yesterday, Yooha’s thoughts naturally drifted in that direction.

[Shin Joowon: Ah, you said you do tutoring on the weekends.]

[Shin Joowon: Are you going straight home? No dinner plans?]

[Yes, I’m going straight home. I don’t have any plans.]

Yooha sent an honest reply to Shin Joowon while taking a deep breath to shake off his anxiety.

While staring at the electronic sign to see when the bus was coming, he didn’t forget to keep an eye on his phone in case he missed a message from Shin Joowon.

Just as all sorts of worries were filling his head because the question of why he had contacted him remained unanswered, a reply came from Shin Joowon.

[Shin Joowon: Yooha, can you give me your number? I don’t have it. ^^]

Only after seeing his message did Yooha realize that he had never exchanged numbers with Shin Joowon.

The moment Yooha, who had sent his number as a reply immediately this time as well, glanced at the electronic sign again, his phone vibrated with a long ring.

When he checked the screen, an unknown number appeared.

A phone call that came the moment he sent the reply to Shin Joowon, who had asked for his number.

Yooha could easily guess that this number belonged to Shin Joowon.

“…Joowon-hyung?”

Yooha, clutching the phone in one hand and his other hand into a tight fist, spoke tentatively.

Because his heart had started beating even faster than when he first checked Shin Joowon’s message, even his voice trembled slightly.

– Yeah, it’s me. This is my number, so save it later.

“Yes… I’ll save it.”

Shin Joowon’s voice heard over the phone felt different for some reason, but it was as sweet as always.

Yooha awkwardly stroked his reddened nape and answered in a small, crawling voice.

It felt strange because lately, every time he faced Shin Joowon, his body heat seemed to rise at least once.

It was the same even now, when he was just listening to his voice over the phone.

– You said you don’t have plans, right?

“Yes….”

– Then hang out with me.

“…Pardon?”

Yooha, who had been pressing his palm against his chest to soothe his trembling heart, froze at Shin Joowon’s words.

A person sitting a little distance away from Yooha waiting for the bus glanced at him.

Yooha, too surprised to notice the gaze, only blinked.

Except for the times Woo Tae would pester him while he was studying, saying “hang out with me,” it was his first time hearing those words from anyone.

– You promised to hang out with me for a day. And buy me a meal.

“Ah….”

– Are you busy, by any chance?

Shin Joowon replied in a voice that carried a hint of disappointment.

Only then did Yooha recall their previous conversation and let out a low gasp.

Back when they had lunch together and Shin Joowon had paid for it, Joowon had said that if he felt that bad, he should just hang out with him for a day.

He had also said he had a restaurant he liked and that Yooha could buy him a meal there.

‘So that’s why he contacted me….’

Yooha, who had been on edge fearing something bad might have happened, was able to let go of at least some of the tension that had filled his body.